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this isn't really a shot at Bennett-every team and every coach experience what we saw yesterday-when the team just doesn't come to play. What are some of the worst wheels off games in SMU history. And yes jtstang and Pony Snob I've got all day.
These are some of my nominations:

1980:
UH 13
SMU 11 "the end of the Mike Ford Era"

1980:
Texas Tech 14
SMU 0 SMU accepts first boel bid in 12 years after dominating game by All-Time Great TT DL Gabe Rivera

1983 Sun Bowl

Alabama 28
SMU 7 SMU pouts its way to one of the few blowout in the Pony Express era because of perceived exclusion from major bowls

1985

Arizona 28
SMU 6 Chinks in the Dynasty Appear

1986

Arkansas 41
SMU 0 Turn Out the Lights The Party's Over....

1990-1996

Each and Every Game Where Tom Rossley Tried to Stop Rice's Running Game

1997

Navy 46
SMU 16

Ramon Turns to Ball Over and that little Navy Scatterbug runs a Tri--llion Yards on Way to National POW


1997

TCU 21
SMU

Winless TCU takes out the Greatest PonyLite Team OF ALL-TIME

2002

Navy 38
SMU 7

Cold Slap in the Face to Cheerleaders Who Quickly Realize-Oh [deleted] Its more than Just Cavan's Coaching That Makes Us Suck-The start of perhaps one of the darkest periods in SMU Football History

Special Honorable Mention the Month of September. Of course, since 1989 there have been at least 3 of these games per year but these are some that really stick out.

Don't forget the 1966 Cotton Bowl...Georgia takes the opening kickoff in for a touchdown and SMU plays the rest of the game like they are just so glad to be in the Cotton Bowl, but don't care whether they win or not. Of course they didn't win. 24-9 loss.

Pretty much any game besides TCU this year that I had to go through more difficulty than normal to attend.

e.g.
Last year TCU 44 SMU 0
Last year Rice a whole bunch SMU not very much
Was it last year or year before at home LaTech a whole bunch SMU not much
Two years ago when the Woods kid broke the record for TD catches at SMU's home opener...we planned all summer to be at the game & left before the 2nd half started
Last year at OSU
Three years ago at TxTech..SMU drove the bowl well on the first possession...right up until the time they fumbled, and then downhill from there

Actually, no one loss post-DP stands out to me like the 1984 Sun Bowl, which you mentioned. Huge right-up in SI the week before proclaiming the travesty that the New Year's bowls shut out a deserving SMU team, only to be followed by a night in Juarez the night befroe teh game, and an unmitigated disaster on the field.

that was the 1983 Sun Bowl, 1984 was the Aloha Bowl against Notre Dame.

Navy 38
SMU 7

Was the first evidence in support of the theory that Bennett cannot coach defense (at least, cannot tailor his coaching to the players he has...its easy to play when you have better players).

Combine this with the fact the Eric Schuman was a GENIUS defensive coordinator against Rice and Navy in his tenure.


Did ANYONE else notice the Aggie game this year that our Dbacks were NOT playing assignment football...

Bennett has never coached, or at least as evidenced by what you see on the field, his defensive players to take out the QB on the option...the DB or LB just seems to 'spy' the QB, drawing him out, further delaying your defense FROM making their corresponding decisions.

If the 'spy' would just attack first and force the QB to pitch as early as possible, and sometimes pitch in error or not pitch at all, then the rest of the D could adjust...

Appearantly, Bennett does not engender this coaching philospophy, his has his own PHIL-ospophy on defending the Option.

Its amazing that TCU didn't just run the option on us.

watching the replay right now-so far Tulane has run the ball well between the tackles but SMU has done a pretty darn good job on the outside. SMU really is suffering from the loss of Desmond Jones and the Arlington Lamar kid. Patrick Handy got 2 QB pressures late in the first half but was blown out on one of his first plays-the 12 yard TD run. Physically Handy has some skills -especially quickness but doesn't have the bulk yet to really stand his man up. He probably should be playing DE right now but it will be interesting once he adds some bulk to his quickness. BTW he played OLM last year so there is a big learning curb there.

to be fair SMU did make some adjustments at half-time and did do a better job of stopping the inside running game in the 2nd half.

Which opened up their passing game across the middle.